The Detroit auto show features alternative energy as Cadillac, Nissan and Mercedes display new electric or hybrid vehicles affirming advocates' hopes for a battery-powered future. Despite the display of electric enthusiasm, some noted that the electric car is still far from mainstream. “The good news is battery costs [are expected] to be lower by 50 percent within the next couple years,” Simon Ng, director of the National Biofuels Energy Laboratory at Wayne State University, told Midwest Energy News. But “there are issues of durability, safety, and replacement cost of battery; and that will take a few more years of intense research and development.”